Prior art surgical clamps for use in applying surgical clips have, for the most part, comprised extended scissor-type lockable clamps with neither lower portion rotation or articulation. Owing to their simplified construction, the prior art clamping devices have been fairly inconvenient to use. Their rigidity, or single dimension flexibility, permit only a limited flexibility for the user and no means of pivoting the clamping device on the surgical clip or easily releasing the clip from the clamping device. The user, surgeon, must either make room for the use of the clamping device or place the placeable clamp from a non-advantageous angle.
With the increasing complexity of many surgical procedures, i.e., in that they are performed while looking through a microscope, it is most difficult to properly execute a close-quartered maneuver with inflexible instruments. Hence, the need for a clamping device with enhanced adaptability and flexibility is becoming greater as medical science enlarges the frontiers of surgical techniques.